Motorhome travel guides

Google Maps for Android now has bicycle route-planning

JP

Good news for Android smartphone owners who like to travel with a bicycle or two in the back of the 'van — Google has added bike navigation to its free Maps app. Over 330,000 miles of dedicated bicycle lanes around the world have now been added to Google Maps and appear in dark green. The app also includes roads with bicycle lanes and bicycle-friendly streets.

Good news for Android smartphone owners who like to travel with a bicycle or two in the back of the 'van — Google has added bike navigation to its free Maps app.

Over 330,000 miles of dedicated bicycle lanes around the world have now been added to Google Maps and appear in dark green. The app also includes roads with bicycle lanes and bicycle-friendly streets.

Plotting a bicycle route with the Google Maps app is no different than before, but tapping the “bicycle” vehicle type makes any necessary. It’s also possible to see the elevation of a particular route to spot any steep hills and rejig the journey accordingly.

In addition to turn-by-turn directions that require periodic glances at a smartphone screen mounted on the handlebars, Google Maps also offers the safer option of spoken directions.

The app’s “Make available offline” option means that the map and route data can also be downloaded and stored on the smartphone, making it available even when cycling in the middle of nowhere with no mobile phone signal.